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Knight, Mustang headed to Nordic state meet

Both high schools in District 621 will have an individual competing in the state Nordic ski racing meet this week.

Mounds View senior Mark Ousdigian and Irondale senior McEwan Rodefeld both finished high enough in the individual standings at the Section 4 championships last week to qualify for state.

Ousdigian went head-to-head with Stillwater senior Shad Kraftson for the section pursuit championship. Although Ousdigian came up short of the title, his runner-up performance secured his spot in the state meet.

Ousdigian finished one second behind Kraftson in the classic race and was unable to make up that one-second deficit in the skate race. His combined pursuit time was 24 minutes, 48 seconds and five seconds behind Kraftson.

Ousdigian’s classic time was 13 minutes, six seconds and he completed the skate race in 11 minutes, 42 seconds. Both times were the second-best of the meet, behind only Kraftson.

This will be Ousdigian’s third trip to state. He first made state as a sophomore and finished 55th overall. Last year he jumped up into the top 10, finishing ninth overall.

Rodefeld is headed to his first Nordic state meet, thanks to a seventh-place finish at the section meet. His combined time from the two races was 25 minutes, 58 seconds.

Rodefeld completed the classic race in 13 minutes, 55 seconds, which put him in 10th place. His skate time of 12 minutes, three seconds was the sixth-fastest and helped him jump up to seventh place.

In the team standings, Mounds View wound up fifth with 321 points, two points behind fourth-place White Bear Lake. Irondale finished seventh with 296 points. Stillwater captured the section team title and Forest Lake was the runner-up.

In the girls competition, Stillwater and Forest Lake also finished 1-2. Irondale landed in fifth place and Mounds View was seventh.